


Another Incident

by Kasymy



Category: Ib (Video Game), 霧雨が降る森 | Kirisame ga furu mori | Forest of Drizzling Rain
Genre: Ghosts, Graphic Description, Horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-04-17 05:25:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 15,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4653987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kasymy/pseuds/Kasymy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ib and Garry officially had no luck with museums between getting trapped in a dangerous artificial world and now stranded in a strange museum in a small town with something almost unbelievable lurking around.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Promised Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> This starts some time after the true ending for Ib and at the beginning of Forest of Drizzling Rain. Just assume everyone speaks the same language because honestly, I can't figure out where Ib is set beyond an art gallery. Also, if you've played or know anything about Forest of Drizzling Rain, you know the actual story of the Kotori Obake is very dark I haven't figured out how to tag that yet but just giving you a heads up for when we get there.

Strangely enough, shortly after the whole ordeal they found each other again and Ib flat out refused to go almost anywhere without Garry after meeting him again. Ib’s parents were initially very confused and didn’t understand why Ib was acting so strangely, but after interrogating Garry and finding nothing strange on his record they decided it might just be best to let everything play out under a watchful eye, of course. Now granted these accusations were one of the few things that instantly angered Ib. She had explained time and time again that Garry would never hurt her, she had saved his life and he had saved hers. Even if her parents didn't believe the circumstances in which everything happened, they should at the very least believe her when she says Garry has never hurt her and he would never do anything like they were thinking. Garry had protected her in their absence and to be honest, Ib wasn't sure that her parent's would be willing to do half the things Garry did to try and get back to her when they were separated.

 

After several months of watching Garry interact with Ib, her parents came to the conclusion that he was protective of her in the same way a brother or a father would be. Soon enough after that realization they began letting Garry take Ib places alone. The two of them tended to stay away from art galleries. Instead going to cafes or to the movies, and while they were reluctant to go to art galleries, they were still going to museums together. Just they tried to keep the art displays to a minimum unless it was a collection of various artists, neither one wanted a repeat of Guertena's World.

 

It wasn't too long after that, that Ib’s parents began viewing Garry as a part of their family. Where they went Garry typically went, actually a lot of ‘family’ events were scheduled to include Garry even though Ib was able to spend a good deal of time away from him without suffering from panic attacks or flashbacks. It got to the point where they invited Garry to live with them so he could truly be a part of their family. However, he politely refused, knowing that Ib loved to spend time in his apartment because it was so different from where she grew up. So naturally when Ib was forced to accompany her parents on a trip, Garry went with them. Ib’s parents were there for business, leaving the eleven-year-old girl is his care with a rented car so they could have fun going to various tourist spots. Unfortunately, this became the problem when Garry and Ib were supposed to go see a museum a few cities over, but quickly became lost on the way back when the heavy rain and fog set in. The drive itself was only supposed to take an hour, but three hours in and Garry had to admit they were not where they were meant to be and to make things worse he wasn't getting any reception on his cell phone. Seeing something that looked like a town ahead Garry decided that he would simply ask for directions once they arrived in whatever town this was.


	2. Lost and Listening to Legends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Real quick, Ib doesn't vocalize a lot of what she is doing or thinking. She speaks when she feels the situation requires it of her, preferring that Garry cover the talking. Also Garry's 'feminine' way of speaking was lost when it was translated to English, but I mention it, anyway. If you don't know what I'm talking about in reference to that it's easier if you just look it up rather than me explaining it.

“Ib, I think we’re lost…” Garry said as they came across a sign for the town that neither of them had ever heard of. Ib just nodded in agreement before the car finally sputtered and died. She tensed slightly as they stopped moving.

 

“What! Not now!” Garry panicked for a moment before calming down after seeing that Ib had tensed up.

 

“What do we do now?” Ib asked quietly as they sat there rain hitting the windows at a rapid pace and fog obscuring anything else they would have been able to see.

 

“We need to find shelter and maybe a mechanic... A working phone would be good too... I think I see a house up ahead.” Garry was squinting, trying to see into the distance through the fog but all he could really see was the outline of a building.

 

“Okay.”

 

“I’ll get out first and use my jacket to cover us as we run to that house.” Garry smiled as Ib nodded, “Okay, let’s go!”  
Garry took his keys out of the ignition and unbuckled his seat belt before running out to the other side of car for Ib. The two of them ran towards the house.

 

“What is this place?” Garry asked, looking at the house, which actually was more of a small mansion. Ib was pointing at a sign that read, “Azakawa Museum Archives.”

 

“Another Museum… What do you say Ib?”

 

“…..Garry…” Ib gripped tighter onto Garry, it was getting dark and while she was generally fine with museums, museums at night were a different story. For the most part Ib was rather unshakeable, at least when things were happening she was unshakeable, but it was the aftermath she couldn't always cope with. The knowledge that a person could get lost in another world.

 

“I know Ib, but we’ll freeze out here. I promise if something happens I’ll protect us.” Garry smiled at the young girl gently.

 

“Okay…” Ib nodded steeling herself against whatever was too come.

 

“It will be okay.” Garry reassured placing one hand around her shoulders as he knocked on the door with his other hand. After no one came to the door, Garry tried the door, which was surprisingly open.

 

“That’s not suspicious at all.” Garry remarked as they entered the darkened museum catiously.

 

“Lighter?” Ib asked quietly, waiting for something to move.

 

“Oh! I keep forgetting about it, here.” Garry pulled a lighter out of his pocket so they could see. It was different than any museum they had ever been in but for the most part looked normal.

 

“The manager?” Ib walked over to the desk, which was covered in Memos saying or asking very different things.

 

“I see, so we need to find the manager. Upstairs?” Ib nodded in agreement as they walked towards the upper floor. It was dark and most of the doors were locked and they somehow managed to lock themselves in a room.

 

“We’re trapped… in a museum…” Ib was stunned, they had no luck with places like this at least nothing was moving that wasn’t supposed to be.

 

“We might want to reconsider museums in general.” Garry said before sitting down. He figured the museum’s Manager would find them before they left. “Come on Ib, you might as well sit down too, the manager should find us soon enough.”

 

“….. Okay.” Ib sat down next to Garry, they heard various noises coming from downstairs not to long after they sat down.

 

“The manager?” Ib asked concerned about things moving around in a museum.

 

“Hopefully.” Garry tensed up having similar flashbacks of their time in the other world. It wasn’t long after that a girl with purple hair burst through the door using a key.

 

“Wai-“ The door slammed locking all three of them in the room again.

 

“Ah! Who are you!” She yelled angrily.

 

“I’m Garry and this is Ib. We’re lost and our car broke down. You wouldn’t happen to be the manager would you?”

 

“No, the manager is crazy! You really don’t want to deal with him.”

 

“Okay… We still need help with things as we’re kinda stranded in this town unless we get some help.”

 

“Mary….” Ib whispered wary of the new girl, since Mary did try and kill her after all.

 

“No, I don’t think she’s like Mary, Ib. I don’t think this is anything like last time.” Garry smiled.

 

“Who’s Mary?” The moody girl asked still very abrasive and rude which contrasted greatly with Garry’s feminine voice patterns.

 

“Painting.” Was all Ib felt the need to say, she wasn’t too fond of this girl or her attitude.

 

“A painting?” The new girl raised her eyebrow at Ib.

 

“It’s a bit of a story.” Garry explained lightly while smiling, “Now what is your name?”

 

“Sakuma.” They feel into silence after that, allowing Ib to notice something strange.

 

“The rain… it stopped.”

 

“What? It was never raining?”

 

“…” 

 

“…. Please not again…” Garry moaned, seriously hopping they weren’t lost in another world again. That would not be good for his or Ib’s sanity.

 

“What are you going on about?”

 

“Are you a painting?” Ib asked, staring at the girl not blinking.

 

“A painting what are you talking about? You guys are as crazy as the manager!” Sakuma glared at Ib who finally looked away decided that Sakuma probably wasn't a painting.

 

“No… we’ve just had some interesting experiences to say the least. I don’t think it’s happening again so we should be fine.”

 

“Either way the Manager should have done his rounds by now so we can get out of here…. The door’s locked.”

 

“Ah yes, we’ve been stuck here for awhile. I tried to tell you when you first entered the room but you closed the door before I could warn you. It locks when the door closes at least that’s my theory as to how we got locked in here.”

 

“When I was looking for a place to hide I thought I heard someone but it couldn’t have been you two if you locked in here. The Manager wasn’t out yet so there has to be a fifth person here. If they come by I’ll slip the key under to door to them and we’re out of here.”

 

“A fifth person you say… I don’t like this at all maybe we should have just stayed with the car.” Garry sighed.

 

“You guys didn’t happen to get lost in the forest did you?” Sakuma asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Forest? We were in a city a few hours ago. Just what type of wrong turn did I take?”

 

“You don’t know? You’re in Azakawa, there’s nothing here aside from this museum, a bunch of old legends and an old forest. The bus doesn’t even come here anymore.”

 

“What!” Garry screeched truly panicking before Ib, calm as ever asked;

 

“Legends… what legends?”

 

“I don’t think we should be concerned with legends right now.”

 

“You said it was raining when you got here, but I don’t remember it raining today… Maybe she’s right, you should be concerned with legends.” Sakuma replied skeptically, not entirely sure what to believe.

 

“Please tell me it’s not about paintings coming to life and killing people.”

 

"What! No, what is with you two and paintings? It’s about a monster that kidnaps and kills children when they make promises with her. It used to be that children couldn’t go into the forest and when it rained not even adults could go into the forest. It’s forbidden for anyone to enter the forest now.”

 

“That’s odd, they forbid you to enter the forest because of a legend… Legends were used to keep people away or bring people to something. Forbidding children to enter the forest would make sense since they could be eaten by an animal but adults? That's odd, it’s probably nothing, to worry about though.” Garry said, trying to rationalize everything, this was not good for his mental health at all. They needed to get out of here, call Ib’s parents and sort everything out.


	3. Locked In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of the dialogue is taken from the manga version of Forest of Drizzling Rain because their translation is so much better than original one.

A noise from outside the room alerted them to what was probably the fifth person's presence.

 

“Ah, there’s someone there!” Sakuma stood, sliding the key under through the hole in the wall and getting the girl to unlock the door.

 

“Come on Ib!” Garry smiled as they left the room, “Thanks so much for that!”

 

“Have you seen the Manager?” The new girl asked as they walked back the front door.

 

“The Manager? No we’re looking for them, too. We’re kinda stranded here… I could have sworn it was raining when the car died, but according to Sakuma it never rained.”

 

“That’s strange, I spent most of my day at the bus stop in town and it never rained there either.”

 

“Not too strange.” Ib whispered quietly.

 

“I guess there’ve been stranger things. Well, let’s go try and find that manager.” Ib just stared at the girl not sure what to make of her. “I’m Shiori by the way.”

 

“Oh! I always forget my manners in situations like this. I’m Garry and this is Ib.”

 

“And you three need to hurry up.” Sakuma called trying to open the door only to find it locked. “We need to find a place we can sneak out.” she suggested, but Garry and Ib just wondered why they had to sneak out when they were there to speak with the manager who could most likely help them with their situation.

 

“If you happen to get caught don’t tell them anything about me!” Sakuma called before wandering off alone, leaving Garry, Ib and Shiori in the entrance way.

 

“I think we’ll just wait for the manager right here.” Garry declared despite Sakuma’s warning, after all how bad could this Manager be. Ib nodded in agreement sitting down, leaning against the reception desk.

 

“I’ll go try and help find a way out.” Shiori told them before leaving them alone in the first floor after looking through the memo’s and leaving a pendent.

 

“No! Stay away from me!!” Ib and Garry tensed hearing Sakuma screaming.

 

“What is going on up there?” Garry asked, trying to lighten the mood, but a crashing noise from the back of the house turned museum was not reassuring in the least. They crouched behind the desk when they heard someone coming.

 

“Should we help them?” Ib asked as Shiori made her way down the stairs again.

 

“Yeah, I’m thinking that’s a good idea. Maybe this manager is a little too odd, I swear he was carrying a sword.” Garry stated before getting Shiori’s attention and following her to a room on the first floor that was lit up with a soft blue light.

 

“The light feels nostalgic some how.” Shiori whispered, starring in the light. Ib noticed the light’s strange aura as well and moved from her spot by Garry’s side to stare at the light. Footsteps coming toward them jarred both Ib and Shiori from their thoughts.

 

Garry moved to cover them as he saw the man with a sword approaching them, but Ib noticed something odd about the man pulling Garry back a step and pointing to his other hand. Despite Garry’s protests, Ib approached the man holding her hand out. The man simply presented her with a note. Not knowing some of the words she looked at Garry, who moved carefully towards the strange man.

 

“It’s past closing time, and rules must be followed. I’m calling the cops. Follow me to the lobby.” Garry read out loud.

 

“Why do you have a sword, though?” Shiori asked, looking around Garry and Ib. A second note was presented to them, “It’s not a real sword, I’m the manager.”

 

“Oh…” 

 

“Okay then…”

 

They followed the strange man to the lobby where Sakuma was waiting, looking very upset at being caught.

 

“Why do you have a fake sword?” Garry asked, trying to figure out just what was going.

 

“…” The manager didn’t write anything down or speak so Garry just let it drop as they waited for the cops to show up.


	4. Nowhere Left To Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how I feel about this chapter but we're rolling with it. Once again sections of the dialogue have been taken from the Manga which I believe has a better translation.

“Hey, Suga!” Officer Mochizuki greeted the manager. He paused briefly looking around the room, “Who are these two?”

 

“I’m Garry and this is Ib. Our car broke down and can we borrow a phone because I don’t have service here.”

 

“Yeah, it’s in that room over there, right Suga?” The manager just nodded in agreement.

 

“Okay,” Garry turned to Ib for a moment, “I’m going to call your parents and let them know what happened. I’ll be right back okay?”

 

“…. Okay.” She said softly, letting go of Garry’s sleeve, allowing him to go to the other room. He ruffled her hair lightly before leaving the room.

 

“You aren’t related?” Officer Mochizuki asked a little suspicious and confused about the nature of their relationship. Ib glared at him for a long while before answering his question.

 

“Garry is… my friend. He saved my life…. I saved his…” Ib didn’t stop glaring as she answered his question.

 

“Is this, the paintings again! Seriously, you guys are weird!” Sakuma huffed crossing her arms while Ib just remained silent.

 

“Okay… Then I take it your parents know you’re with him, then.” Mochizuki asked awkwardly, not sure why Ib was giving him that look. She just nodded as Suga handed her a memo reading,

 

_“Are you okay?”_ Ib just nodded, smiling slightly at the silent man. He wasn’t making accusations, merely making sure she was okay before asking any other questions. It was probably the best conversation she had ever had about the subject, he was aiming to understand their friendship not pick it apart or undermine it.

 

“Well, that’s interesting.” Sakuma remarked, watching the two communicate through mostly silent, subtle gestures with the occasion sentence or memo. Finally, Suga nodded, apparently reaching some form of understanding with the young girl.

 

“Alright, Ib!” Garry called re-entering the room feeling incredibly relieved, “Your parents are going to call the rental company tomorrow and they should come up here with a different car and tow truck. So we can get out of here. They also said to behave as per usual and that they love you.”

 

“Okay…” Ib was also far more relaxed after her brief discussion with the silent man. She didn’t like people accusing Garry of hurting or abusing her. To her is was obvious that Garry was a good person, he was scared out of his mind when they meet, but he was still determined to protect her even though he’d jump out of his skin at the slightest thing. Suga seemed to understand that after she explained parts of what happened. Out of everyone in the room, with the expectation of Garry, she probably trusted Suga the most. His approach to protecting the archives may be unusual, but taking into account her experiences she truly saw nothing wrong with it. Though she was aware of the fact that his sword wasn’t a fake, maybe designed differently from a standard blade but clearly functional. Anyone with a fake sword would not handle it as cautiously as he did.

 

“Is there any place we could stay for the night?” Garry turned and asked the officer.

 

“Um… Excuse me.” Shiori drew everyone’s attention towards her before everyone got too far ahead of themselves or forget about her.

 

“Oh, that’s right, Suga. It seems this girl had some questions about the archives. Seems like she came from a pretty far away too… Have you two talked already?”

 

“How do you expect her to talk about anything?! She’s been way too scared for that! Really there’s something wrong with your way of guarding the archives!” Sakuma yelled, pissed off at the manager, she may spend most of her time here but that didn’t mean she had to like Suga.

 

“…” Suga remained silent.

 

“Sakuma!” Officer Mochizuki reprimanded, glaring angrily at the young girl for insulting Suga. Ib glared and her too, which confused Garry as last he knew Ib was merely cautious of her. Knowing Ib though he assumed someone suggested something about him to her, which was not something she forgave easily. He mentally made a note to talk with her about it later.

 

“Ah. Excuse me. It’s true that we haven’t talked yet, but… I found what I was looking for.” Shiori stopped the argument from escalating any further.

 

“Ooh! Is that so. Then everything’s fine.” Mochizuki said, his demeanor changing completely.

 

“Yes. The truth is I’m the grandchild of Kanzaki Keiichirou, who used to live here. Due to some circumstances, I wanted to come here and make sure it was true.”

 

“Who?” Garry asked, wondering why Suga had just tensed up suddenly. Ib was also curious, but from her short conversation with Suga she believed that there was something more to it than what anyone was saying.

 

“I didn’t expect that! So that’s why you came all the way to this godforsaken place. You had a blood relative who lived in this house.” Mochizuki laughed a bit trying to shrug off the tension that had begun to build in the room.

 

“Yes.”

 

_“Please go back.”_ Suga presented her with a memo; his facial expression had changed completely. Garry was shocked at the odd man’s sudden change and in all honesty, it sent shivers down his back as it reminded him of how Mary behaved after Garry found out she was a painting. Glancing at Ib though, she clearly was seeing something he wasn’t. He wondered what exactly happened in the time he was gone for Ib to have gotten close to Suga.

 

“Ah… well, I was thinking of finding a place to stay tonight… And I was hoping you could show me the archives tomorrow.” Shiori suggested almost shyly.

 

_“I can’t. Please go back.”_ Suga replied again, almost seeming desperate to get rid of Shiori.

 

“I know it’s shameless of me to ask for such a favor… Of course I am not asking you to just hand over this mansion. I just…” Suga interrupted her with another memo.

 

“Buzz off.” This one caused even Ib to be confused.

 

“But I… No matter what, I want to know more about this place! My parents have just passed away in a traffic accident, and now I’m all-alone. At the very least, I want to know about this place! It bears some connection with them!” Shiori exclaimed, and shock was evident on both Ib and Garry’s face. Ib moved closer to Garry, who put his arm around her shoulders.

 

“Maybe letting her stay wouldn’t be a horrible idea?” Garry suggested, but neither party deviated from their current staring contest.

 

“What are you arguing for?” Mochizuki wondered out loud, while scratching the back of his neck.

 

“Wow, how mean! ‘Buzz off’ he says.” Sakuma glared at Suga once again but he ingorned her in favor of continuing to stare down Shiori.

 

“Anyway, let’s just calm down for now. Ah, there’s no place to rent a room for the night around here.”

 

“Eh?!” Shiori turned around at an almost comical rate.

 

“What? Wait! Please tell there’s someplace we can stay!” Garry felt panic creeping on him again, squeezing Ib's shoulders a little tighter than strictly necessary. 

 

“You won’t find anything in this village. There are no buses, no convenience stores and of course no lodging. Though there is one building in the village used as an emergency lodging facility.” He began

 

“And it’s the archives building. You, as its manager, understand this perfectly, and yet you’ve done nothing but say mean things to this girl.” Sakuma defended while Garry was starting to feel like they were just spectators in all of this despite being in a similar boat. Granted Suga and Ib seemed to have come to some sort of understanding while he was in the other room if that slight nod in their direction was anything to go by. He still was, wondering what exactly had transpired though.

 

“Yeah, that’s how it is. So it should be fine for you three to stay here for tonight, that’s how things work in this village right, Suga?”

 

“……” Suga didn’t comment, but Ib knew Shiori staying here distressed him, she just didn’t understand why and he wasn’t really open to talking with her about it and least not right now. So she let it go, but watched their interactions carefully. Something about this town made her feel strange, it wasn’t like the gallery but it was similar. She clutched harder onto Garry’s jacket as everyone began to move about again now that a decision had been reached.


	5. Cooking and Memories Long Forgotten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit different I hope you like it.

            Shiori, Garry and Ib were watching as Suga started cooking, leaving them shocked and horrified. Ib had, had enough of the sickening looking food Suga was preparing and dragged a reluctant Garry towards where Suga was standing and shook her head. Suga and Ib had another silent exchange.

            “Ib…” Garry asked nervously before Suga nodded as well, taking several steps back gesturing for Garry to take over

            “It’s okay. You can cook.” Garry just ruffled the young girl’s hair with a smile.

            “Alright, dinner will be ready in an hour or two. I’ll call everyone when it’s ready. Go on I’ll be fine here, besides I still have my lighter should anything weird happen.” He said mainly to Ib who just nodded and moved next to Suga. Shiori was very thankful that Ib had stopped Suga but she wasn’t sure what half of the things Garry said to Ib meant. She just decided that it wasn’t important; she was here to find out about her family not decoding whatever it was that Garry and Ib were talking about.

            _“I will keep her safe.”_ Suga handed Garry a memo to reassure him further.

            “Thank you. I’ll see you all in a bit… Um, Do you have an apron?” Suga just pointed to a drawer before leaving the room with Ib trailing after him amiably. Reminding himself once again to speak with Ib about what happened in the time he made a simple phone call.

            “Here we go, I guess.” Garry sighed, looking around the mess that was the kitchen. Before he began sorting out what he needed from what was just too far-gone to clean right now.

 

X

 

            Ib and Suga sat in comfortable silence, speaking or writing to each other when necessary, but Shiori felt like she was intruding on something and left them alone after grabbing a book to read. She did have a lot of research to catch up on.

            “She left…. Why do you not want her here?” Ib asked quietly, wanting to know why Suga was so against Shiori being here.

            _“She is in danger if she’s stays here. She must return home and never look back.”_ Suga replied, making Ib’s blood run cold imagining the possibilities.

            “What do you mean?” Ib whispered a little worried at what the answer would be.

            _“It’s nothing you need to be worried about. Just stay out of the forest.”_ Suga gently reassured her, he didn’t want to scare the young girl, but he didn’t want to lie to her either. He knew something happened to Garry and Ib but Ib’s explanation was certainly lacking details. Mainly why they were in such a dangerous situation to start with and what exactly she meant by paintings were trying to kill them and what the rose is the embodiment of the spirit is or means.

            “Sakuma said there was a legend… The forest, no one is allowed to enter it.”

            _“Do not worry about it, as long as you do no got to the forest nothing bad will happen.”_

            “…” Ib didn’t respond, but Suga could tell that his vague warnings and reassurances were doing nothing to help her. She was on edge as it is but clearly his social skills were not the best when it came to this. If he could sigh, he would have.

            _“Shiori grew up her and she went into the forest. To protect her, her parents left this place. She is in danger as long as she stays here. Her past is something that is better left forgotten.”_ Suga let her read the paper before tearing it into several tiny pieces to ensure that Shiori would never find it.

            “You want to protect her… You care about her.” Ib stated tilting her head slightly a bit confused. Suga only nodded in response. Ib was silent for several moments after that before she spoke again.

            “She is your friend then…” Suga began to nod before he froze as if realizing something. He wrote another memo.

            _“Was my friend. She no longer remembers me.”_  Once again, he tore up the memo, perhaps he should borrow Garry’s lighter and burn them just in case.

            “I almost forgot Garry and he almost forgot me… She is still your friend.” Ib reassured him; after all, even if she and Garry had forgotten each other she doubted that she would ever consider him other than a friend. Even if she looked at him and saw a stranger like when they first returned to the real world Garry was still her friend. To her, Shiori and Suga’s situation was the same, only Shiori could never remember without risking her life.

            “ _Thank you.”_ Suga smiled slightly and ruffled Ib’s hair like he had seen Garry do before going back to his reading. Ib sat next to him and looked over his shoulder reading what she could of his book.

            Dinner didn’t take Garry too much longer to cook and all in all everyone was very pleased with Garry’s cooking. Suga, who was far too used to his own abysmal cooking looked about ready either kiss or worship Garry for making something that was actually edible and delicious. Ib just smiled gently eating her food. As strange as this town was and felt to her it had it's moments.


	6. Speculation, Fear and Forests

            It was much later when Garry and Ib finally got to speak with each other about what had happened that day. Both of them were staying a room towards the back of the Museum a ways away from where Shiori. So there was no chance of her overhearing their conversation. Suga was still downstairs not that anything they would be discussing would affect him as it would Shiori.

            “What happened while I was on the phone with your parents?” Garry finally asked after getting Ib ready for bed. He was very thankful that he put a small duffel bag in the car with extra clothing and travel supplies. It was an odd habit of his to say the least, but he was thankful for it now even if Ib’s parents teased him about. Ib was wearing an extra shirt of Garry’s as pajamas.

            “Officer made an accusation… Suga asked if I was okay… We spoke.” Ib replied as she moved to get into the bed. Garry puts his coat over her once she settled down and sat on the edge of the bed.

            “Okay, I’m guessing he just wanted to understand and that’s why you’re comfortable around him.” Garry deduced from Suga’s question, the man was odd that was for sure but he wasn’t a bad person despite his quirks. Ib was good at reading people like him, probably made their conversation more than a little hard to follow. Regardless, he was glad she had made another friend.

            “He’s like you.” She whispered, moving around a bit trying to get comfortable.

            “Huh? How so?” Garry wondered out loud not seeing how they were in any way similar.

            “He protects people… probably scared too, better at hiding it… He’s worried…” Ib explained.

            “Okay, I’m going to need a little more than that Ib.” Garry chuckled lightly, he was good at reading Ib but even he needed more information sometimes.

            “The forest, there’s something in the forest… Shiori can’t remember she can’t find out about it. Suga knew her, he protect her…” Ib replied, digging her nails into her palm at the thought of what could be in the forest. She was scared it sounded and felt a lot worse than the gallery.

            “Hey, don’t do that Ib you’re going to hurt yourself,” Garry grabbed her hands and unfurled them, then gently massaged the red crescent marks on her palms, “It seems that everything leads back to the forest. I don’t like the sound of that.” He said grimly releasing Ib’s hands, thinking back to a strange children's book he saw in one of the other rooms. He didn't really read it, but he remembers seeing what was supposed to be a monster.

            “Suga… stay out of the forest.” Garry sighed in response, it seemed that avoiding the forest was the golden rule of this town for whatever reason he doubted it was good.

            “Regardless, we’ll be out of here tomorrow when the rental company sends another car.” Garry smiled to reassure Ib.

            “…” 

            “What is it Ib?” Garry asked, feeling that there was something that was still making her uneasy.

            “I don’t know… odd.” Ib whispered, looking a bit confused.

            “The town?” Garry asked Ib who just nodded, “I suppose it is, there are certainly a lot of unanswered questions but I think it’s best we left them that way. Maybe we’re just paranoid, but I don’t want to take that chance. We’re leaving in the morning and it had been a hectic day, I’ll stay awake for a bit longer then I’m going to sleep on the floor. Wake me if you need anything or if you’re scared. Maybe when we get back to the city we can get you a lighter too.” He smiled again hoping to comfort her. He hoped she didn't have any nightmares like when they were in the gallery or even the ones that haunted her after everything.

            “Okay… Night Garry.” I said, turning onto her right side before closing her eyes.

            “Sweet dreams Ib.” He responded, standing up and kissing her forehead before heading downstairs to speak with Suga.


	7. Late Night Conversations

 

            “Hey Suga, thank you.” Garry appeared in Suga’s office confusing the other man. Suga was about to grab his memo pad, but before he could write something down though Garry continued, knowing what Suga was going to say.

            “For talking with Ib the way you did. I know what people think, and she absolutely hates it. In the beginning she didn’t really understand why people were asking those questions, she was nine when I first met her. When she found out why they were asking the questions she got so angry. It’s not really common for her to show her emotions or speak a lot really. I’m sure you’ve noticed. Regardless, after what we went through, it angered her. She wasn’t lying when she said that she saved my life. When we meet I was bleeding on the floor. And between the two of us she’s the fearless one even if she’s just a child. I protected her from Mary who was about to kill her with a palette knife. So naturally she hates that people assume the worst even after explaining how we know each other. So thank you for taking the time to understand what happened.” Suga just starred at the man in front of him, thinking about what he said and what he knew.

            _“She didn’t explain everything, only that you were scared, but risked your life to save hers. You were lost in an art gallery where Mary and art displays were trying to kill you. She also mentioned something called the Embodiment of the Spirit.”_ Suga handed him the memo.

            “I’m not surprised, it’s a long story.” Garry laughed, grabbing a chair and sitting down in front Suga, “However, I’m surprised that you believed her. No one ever believes the true story.”

            _“I’ve seen more than most…”_ Suga looked him the eyes and Garry just sighed.

            “This town is certainly strange and there’s that forest behind this museum, but that’s beside the point. To start with we weren’t in a gallery so much as we were in another world that was the gallery. Neither of us knows how we got there exactly only that we were there. This gallery was a death trap, the statues would come after us or block our paths. There was toxic red gas in some rooms, our lives were tied to a rose; mine was blue while Ib’s was red, there were paintings of women that would chase us and try and take the roses. It was not an easy place to survive. I originally thought Mary was like us from the real gallery but once I found out she was a painting she tried to kill Ib. I ended up being forced to burn her painting, which I think killed her.” Garry explained, trying to calmly ignore the flashbacks playing out in his head, “I believe she was for the most part controlling the gallery but I don’t know. That place was insane, Ib and I we’re lucky to get out alive with our sanity still for the most part intact.”

            _“Was there no way to protect yourselves?”_

            “Not really, you had to protect your rose, but that works both ways. If you got a cut you would lose a petal, if you lost a petal you would be injured.” Garry explained

            _“I see… Both of you are very fortunate to have survived.”_ Suga wrote and he appeared to have something more to say but he didn’t write anything else down. Garry felt the memories overwhelm him briefly before shaking them off.

            “Yeah. I should head back upstairs. It won’t do for me tired in the morning. I’ll see you tomorrow, goodnight Suga and thank you again.” Garry smiled, heading towards the door, catching Suga’s small nod out of the corner of his eye.

Suga sat there for several more minutes just generally confused at what caused Garry’s sudden departure as well as just everything.

 


	8. Pancakes and Panic Attacks

            The next morning, Garry woke up early in case the rental car company arrived earlier than expected and to make breakfast. He checked on Ib before going to the kitchen making sure she was sleeping peacefully, no nightmares, not too cold and not too hot. After finding that she was in a dreamless sleep, he went downstairs to the kitchen and looked in the cabinets only finding cereal and some odds and ends.

            After looking around the kitchen in places he wouldn’t think to find other food. Garry ends up finding some flour and other things that he figured he could use to make pancakes. Finding a skillet was a challenge and he didn’t have a spatula so he was stuck using a large knife to flip the pancakes.

            He was seriously wondering how Suga survived when his kitchen barely had food or anything to cook with. Garry supposed that the police officer who was here last night made sure that Suga actually ate enough to live. Them seemed marginally close, as far as Garry could tell.

            Humming to himself, Garry began cooking the pancakes and carefully flipping them using the knife. He didn’t even notice Suga stunned in the doorway watching him dance around the kitchen.

            After overcoming his shock at Garry cooking and dancing in his kitchen Suga knocked on the wall to alert Garry to his presence.

            “KYAAAA!” Garry screamed loudly at the sudden knocking and collapsed onto the floor holding the large knife over his head protecting his face. Suga just stood there completely shocked, he didn’t expect Garry to scream let alone that loudly. Not even ten seconds later an out of breathe Ib was pushing him out of the way.

            “Is Garry okay?” Ib asked, panting slightly from the run.

            “Huh? Oh… I guess I got scared again, sorry for waking you Ib.” Garry smiled and stood on his shaky legs.

            “It’s okay, I’m used to Garry’s scary screams when he’s surprised.” Ib commented drily before moving to sit down at the table.

            “I told you, it’s a reflex I can’t control it!” Garry replied, blushing heavily, making Suga flush remembering that he was the one who scared the unsuspecting man.

            _“I apologize, I didn’t mean to startle you.”_ Suga handed him the note shyly and avoiding eye contact.

            “Huh? Don’t worry about it. I just happen to scare easily. I’m surprised that I didn’t wake Shiori up.” Garry laughed easily before turning back the pancakes. Thankfully there had been no pancakes cooking at the time he had been scared or they probably would have been burned.

            Twenty minutes later found Shiori joining them in time for breakfast. Suga decided that he might just have to learn how to cook since he doubted he could go back to eating what he had been eating before.

 

            The rest of the day passed easily and mainly in silence, Shiori was reading and looking into her past, Suga running the place and ensuring that none of the people visiting caused trouble, then Garry and Ib waiting for the rental car company to arrive.

            The later it got, the more restless Garry became, Suga also seemed concerned for them, but it seemed that only Ib picked up on it.

            “Suga, can I use the phone to call Ib’s parents again.” Garry asked, looking a bit worse for the wear. Suga just nodded and moved out of the way. Quickly Garry dialed Ib’s mother’s number, he had memorized it some time ago.

            “Yes, Mrs.- Yes, I know, sorry Mom - The rental car company hasn’t arrived yet and it’s getting a bit late - I see did they tell you why? – Okay, I’ll ask the officer we met earlier if he can do something. – Yes, I’ll tell her, see you both soon.” Garry conversed quickly with Suga presumed was Ib’s mother.

            “They aren’t coming.” Ib guessed softly, causing Garry to sigh.

            “They can’t find the town. There’s a strange fog that settles and they seem to be going in circles. Also the GPS doesn’t seem to be working according to what they told your mother Ib.” Garry explained a bit pushing of the feeling of dread back.

            “We’re stuck here.” Ib began to shake as her breathing speed up rapidly. Suga looked from Garry to Ib confused.

            “Ib! Breathe!” He yelled, pulling the girl to his chest, putting her ear above his heart, “Come on now, in and out, in time with my heart.” Garry pet her hair working on calming the panicking girl down.

Suga realized it was a panic attack and a great deal of guilt hit him. He told her that the forest was dangerous and now they were trapped here with the forest right behind them. From what he learned about their experiences it was a bit too similar for their liking. Ib was strong, but Suga supposed even the strongest of people could become over whelmed with fear or suffer from what was likely PTSD. He would have to inform them of the legend later when Ib was calmer. That way they could at least protect themselves and know what they were up against. For now he need to retrieve more beads he had made out of the nightglow stone.

Leaving them alone Suga made his way to his secret room where he stashed his crafting materials and spare nightglow stone pieces. Some of them were of a lower quality, but they would still get the job done. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the way Garry is flipping the pancakes seems impossible, but I've done it and it's quite possible with some practice.


	9. Kotori Obake and Ogami-San

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The picture book story is a combination of the manga's translation and the game's translation.

Ib and Garry were both on edge and spent the next few hours sitting in silent companionship. Even when he cooked dinner Garry was much more subdued than normal. Shiori was confused about the sudden change, but when no one would answer her, she just dismissed all of it.

Suga however, was growing more concerned with each silent hour that passed. Ib didn’t talk much and when she did it was in fragments and different from most people’s sentence structure. Garry typically made enough conversation for the two of them seamlessly understanding Ib’s no-verbal cues. Neither had spoken and as far as he could tell Ib had made no move to communicate with Garry or himself.

Shortly after Dinner was cleaned up Suga signaled for both of them to wait in the kitchen while went to retrieve a book and the nightglow stones he had brought back earlier.

 

Ib and Garry waited in the kitchen sharing glances of confusion as well as concern for the strange, silent man. Still, both of them patiently waited for his return. He held the handmade picture book, two small bracelets with small nightglow stones weaved into them and a memo.

            _“The book will explain everything, please wear the bracelets. They are protective charms, just please wear them at all times.”_

            “Thank you,” Garry replied immediately before thinking, “This is about the forest isn’t it?” He asked nervously carefully watching Suga.

            Suga nodded as Ib slipped the smaller of the two bracelets onto her right wrist. The blue contrasted with her red clothing, but she couldn’t care any less. Suga said the bracelet would protect her and she trusted Suga greatly perhaps as much as she trusted Garry.

            “Thank you.” Ib whispered after a small while handing the slightly larger bracelet to Garry. Garry slipped it on with ease, smiling gently at Ib. Suga nodded, accepting their thanks

            _“I will be in my office if you have questions.”_ Suga departed quickly feeling more than a bit awkward. He hoped nothing bad would happen as long as they were here, but Suga knew better than that. Those bracelets would hopefully save their lives and ensure that they would not be injured.

 

            Garry and Ib made their way upstairs for the night still thinking about the book Suga had given them. It was handmade from several years ago, and clearly made by a child. Ib believed that it was probably Suga’s but Garry supposed it could have been Shiori’s, since also once lived in this town. Regardless, once in their room Garry began reading the book with Ib sitting next to him and looking over his shoulder.

            “ **Kotori Obake and Ogami-San. Once upon a time, there was a very beautiful woman who lived in the village.”** The picture was of a woman in a kimono, been done by a child it was difficult to tell if she was beautiful or not but that’s besides the point.

            **“But that woman used her beauty to enslave the village’s men. And ordered them to do horrible things.”** This time the book showed a picture of the woman laughing while the men had sinister grins. Garry and Ib looked at each other wondering where this was going but continued.

            **“Because of that, the village became desolate and the men’s wives and children were always starving. Eventually, the evil woman was driven out of the village into the mountains.”** There was an image of the woman being banished to the mountains by what Garry assumed were women and children since the woman affected the men it was unlikely that they found a way to overcome her power and banish her themselves.

            **“Whereupon the woman changed her appearance and became a monster. That woman became the “child abducting monster”, the Kotori Obake, who kidnapped children and tossed them into hell… She kidnapped many, many children. The men in the village tried to go and exterminate the monster, but they were unable to win.”** The pictures here were a little harder to decipher but got the point acrossed. Again Garry and Ib looked at each other confused. This book was rather dark to be written by a child. Also the woman, now the Kotori Obake's sudden obsession with children didn't make any sense.

            **“One day, a mist-like rain came pouring down on the village. That’s when the Kotori Obake came down to the village. ‘Where is my child? The ones who wandered into the forest won’t suffice come now, hand over my child, give my child”** Ib and Garry both became further confused, was the Kotori Obake the victim or the monster of this story. It seemed like she was just looking for her child. Did the villagers kill her child when she was banished?

            **“At this moment, a brave villager came to face the Kotori Obake. Strangely enough, she did not try and attack this villager. And when he threw a stone glowing in blue at her, the monster let out a shriek and returned to the forest.”** The pictures showed a man protecting the village from the woman with a blue stone similar to the beads in the bracelet Suga had given them.

            **“Thereafter that villager begged the gods, so that no child would ever be kidnapped again. And the Kotori Obake never came back to the village. After these events he was known as “Ogami-San” and continued to protect the village from the Kotori Obake.  The children no longer went into the forest and it is said that the village regained its prosperity.”** Garry and Ib looked at each other trying to figure out what they were missing.

            “She’s a ghost?” Ib asked, trying to figure out just what happened.

            “I guess, they called her a monster though. It doesn’t add up if she bewitched men why would she be looking for a child?” Garry questioned, there were just too many unanswered questions left by that story. Especially considering what they knew about things like this, they were no experts, but both of them felt that there was something else going on here.

"Sakuma, mentioned promises." Ib added, remembering it seemed strange to her at the time, a monster killing children for making a promise with her.

"I remember now, this legend is certainly more complex and confusing than I expected. Still, we need to stay safe first. Suga said these bracelets will protect us so as long as we avoid the forest and wear these we'll be safe and if all else fails, we still have my lighter." Garry smiled, trying to ease the tense atmosphere, when that didn't work he just ruffled Ib's hair and hugged her.

 


	10. Garry's Theory And Suga's Insitance

            It was late and despite being rather conflicted about the story Garry convinced Ib that she should go to sleep while he spoke with Suga. He suspected something was left out and depending on what it is he wanted time to find a way to word it for Ib. So for the second night in a row Garry made his way downstairs to speak with Suga after putting Ib to bed.

            “Suga?” Garry called, entering the room. Suga nodded and waited for Garry to ask whatever questions he had.

            “I feel like there was something missing from that story. Mary regardless of actions was a lonely child who grew up in complete isolation. She knew there was more than just the world she grew up in and she longed to escape the gallery, a lonely child who wanted her freedom no matter the cost. Her actions made sense, even taking her nature into consideration. The Kotori Obake’s story doesn’t, she bewitched men leaving their families to starve. She should hold no grudge against children, they were too weak to have helped banish her and most likely had no interaction with her. Still, she seems entirely focused on children, mainly a child she believes is hers. Did the villagers do something else besides banishing her, like killing her child?”

            _“Mary and the Kotori Obake are nothing like each other. The Kotori Obake is a monster and Mary was a painting that was somehow alive.”_ Suga wrote but Garry just sighed.

            “I hate horror movies, but after surviving the gallery Ib and I both started looking up strange occurrences similar to our own. It was a sort of therapy knowing we weren’t alone, even if they could have been fake. Anyway, they almost always followed a linear path. It makes more sense if the villagers killed her child and she died in the forest she was banished to. She continues to try and find her murdered child, but finds poor substitutes and tricks them into staying with her to fill the void her dead child left.” Garry theorized, briefly. Suga began writing after several silent moments.

            _“The Kotori Obake is a monster. There is no rational explanation, she plagues this village and the night glow stone is the only way to keep her at bay.”_

            “Night glow stone?”

            " _The stones weaved into the bracelets. They will protect you from her, not indefinitely, but for a period time.”_

“For now I’ll accept your explanation of the Kotori Obake but I still believe there is more to the story. I’ll remind Ib not to remove her bracelet and not to make any promises to anyone. She’s generally good with things like this.” Garry smiled fondly, but his eyes showed that he was still conflicted.

            _“She had a panic attack earlier today.”_ Suga wrote.

            “Yes, she did, but she wasn’t faced with something then. We’re stuck here and being stuck places sets both of us on edge. Both of us have forms of PTSD, which is no surprise considering what we’ve been through. She was rather calm throughout the gallery even when Mary tried to kill her. I doubt this will be any different, even if the aftermath is likely to be worse than before.”

Suga nodded, as Garry moved to leave. When he reached the door Garry paused.

“That sword of yours is real isn’t it?” Garry turned and waited for Suga's response.

_“Yes, I forged it from the night glow stone.”_

“I thought so, well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”


	11. Arrogant Fool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, most of the dialogue is taken from the manga version.

Shiori, Garry and Ib had been staying in the Museum Archives for a few days now. Garry and Ib were stranded until further notice though Officer Mochizuki said when he got a day off, he’d drive them to the nearest city himself. Though being practically the only officer in this town meant his days off were inconsistent at best. At least now they had a way out even meant staying in the town longer.

Ib’s parents were worried, but they trusted Garry to keep Ib safe as well buy whatever they needed using the emergency credit card they had given him. With Suga’s help Garry ordered from sites that would be able to find the town. They picked out various clothing items so they at least could have fresh clothing to wear. Garry handled the cooking and even began letting Suga help though he watched the man carefully and let him nowhere near the stove top.

Shiori was still reading and finding information on her past and parents. She had grown quite close with Sakuma, who Ib still was wary of, to the point that the Sakuma referred to Shiori as her older sister. Unfortunately, Shiori was having trouble find information about her grandparents and her parents other than general information. She was happy to just be in what used to be their home but all she knew about them were cold facts. She didn’t know their personalities, how they were when they were alive or other details like that. She was learning more about the village than her family at this point. Which was perfectly fine in Suga’s mind.

 

It had been a quiet day for all of them, with Sakuma and Officer Mochizuki visiting them. Mochizuki checked in with Suga and seemed very thankful that Garry had been cooking and making sure that everyone ate. It also saved him from having to drop off take out every couple days to make sure Suga didn’t die from his own cooking. He also updated Garry and Ib on the prospects of him getting a day off. Overall, it had been a peaceful day, until this man showed up.

“-this is troubling. From our standpoint, we can’t let the village degenerate anymore than it already has.” Garry and Ib over heard and saw Shiori heading down the stairs.

“Huh?” Shiori asked Sakuma who was standing by the stairs.

“Who is he?” Garry questioned as the four of them watched the scene unfold.

“…Someone from the village, and what’s more, it’s that annoying official.”

“…Honestly, isn’t there someone here for the library?” The man continued speaking to Suga in a condescending manner, “I don’t think there’s any meaning in maintaining this place, which yields no benefits for the village. For the development of the village, clearing the mountain is a requirement, and for that, this building’s existence is a bit of problem.”

Suga was never given a chance to respond. Ib was beginning to dislike the man as much as Sakuma seemed, too, probably the only thing they’d ever agree on. Garry didn’t want to get involved, but things weren’t looking so good if Suga was never given a chance to defend himself. Still the man continued,

“The incident of disappearing children hasn’t even come up in recent years. Don’t you think being bound by old bindings is a bit behind the times? The present is different from the past.” It was silent for a minute, then the man pushed Suga even further, ‘Kotori Obake and Ogami-san’ sounds like a pretty ridiculous story.”

For a second it looked like Suga was about to cut the man down using his sword, Garry tensed not sure what to do if Suga really did try ti kill the man. He looked around and no one else seemed to know what to do either.

“S…see!? You’re like that to give people even more of a reason not to come here!” The man looked afraid even after Suga just pulled out a memo pad and began writing, “…Again with that memo. God, talking with you always comes to this… It seems you do not wish to accept my terms, but just remember that we’ve already decided to vote for the demolition of this place during the next village meeting. Try to keep your unscientific nonsense in check. Don’t come crying if you can’t find your next job because you’re too sinister. Well, in your case there’s another problem before that.” The man spouted verbally abusing Suga. All four of them watching looked increasingly upset and if looks could kill this man would have been dead several times over.

“…” Ib was ready to call the man out when he looked over at the four of them.

“You’re… the young lady from Sakuma-san’s place. You hanging around in this kind of place just won’t do. This is why Sakuma-san won’t agree with our demolition proposal.” The man said looking disapprovingly at Sakuma. Ib no longer wished to speak and not even seconds later Sakuma lost it.

“DIE!! YOU RACCOON-DOG OLD BASTARD!!!!!” Sakuma’s voice was pure poison. Ib just nodded in agreement with Sakuma’s statement. Garry and Shiori exchanged brief glances as Sakuma ran off, Shiori nodded to reassure him that she would handle it.

“What’s with that!? What a rude girl! This time people at your home are really going to hear from me!” He yelled partially at Suga and partially at Sakuma.

“The rude one… Is you, I believe.” Shiori stepped forward mildly shocking Suga.

“What’s with you? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before…” The man seemed unsure of himself,

“I’m the granddaughter of Kanzaki Keiichirou, this place’s former owner.” Garry and Ib nodded to each other it was a good idea to let Shiori handle this, they had almost forgotten that Shiori’s parents and grandparents used to live in this house.

“Granddaughter? To think that the Kanzakis still had a blood relative…”

“That would be me. And as his blood relative, when it comes to this building’s rights, I’m the one who holds absolute authority. So please don’t just say whatever you want.” Shiori glared at the man and Ib scoffed almost slightly, Garry knew if she felt like speaking, she probably would have been a bit more brutal after all Ib had experience telling stuck up people to mind their own business.

“A young girl like you is the inheritor?” The man laughed mockingly at Shiori, but that only seemed to make Shiori angrier. “Stop it. I can tell from looking at that you’re a child from the city right? Hand this estate over the village, you can’t handle this of course, we are ready to make an offer.” He continued disregarding the look Shiori was giving him.

 “Please leave.” Shiori looked about ready to punch him, but she stayed calm, only letting her anger show in her voice. She was serious and Garry really hoped this man listened as he had pissed off everyone in the room.

“…Dammit! This is why I hate cowards like you! This stupid legend isn’t worth snot!! How can you fail to understand that?! I will leave for today!” He stormed out, slamming the door behind him as if he was the one who decided to leave.

 


	12. Sakuma Missing

They stared after him for a moment before Shiori turned to Suga.

“I’m sorry. I just said what I wanted to, but I wasn’t being serious. Please don’t pay it any mind, Suga. It’s just I got really mad like the other did…”

 _“Thank You.”_ Suga didn’t look any of them in the eyes. Ib smiled seeing the two getting along. No doubt they were friends. Garry seemed to be thinking the same way Ib was and ruffled her hair.

“No, I don’t mind it.” Shiori responded, happy to have helped and to have seemingly gotten on Suga's good side. She really hoped that he stopped avoiding her from now on.

 _“Can we make dinner?”_ Suga looked more towards Garry and Ib.

“Sure, just don’t try and use the stove!” Garry laughed and they moved into the kitchen. Talking easily between themselves, well Shiori and Garry were talking, while and Ib and Suga had silent conversations at the table, adding something to Shiori and Garry’s conversation when they felt like it. Ib read Suga’s memos aloud for him when he wished to speak.

It was a pleasant atmosphere and everyone was enjoying each other’s company for the first time since they all ended up in this town. Only it was too peaceful it made Garry, Ib and Suga a bit on edge, Shiori didn’t seem to notice the strange sense of foreboding that hung around the air. 

After dinner Suga and Garry were washing the dishes when the calm that had settled erupted into a storm.

“Suga! Are you here?!” They heard officer Mochizuki yelling as he banged on the door loudly, causing poor Garry to scream again, making Ib roll her eyes and stood up from the table.

“Officer Mochizuki?”

“It’s me Mochizuki, Open up!!!” While everyone else was still in the kitchen wondering what was going on, Ib went to open the door. “Sakuma has… Sakuma has disappeared!” He was still yelling as Ib let him in and everyone filtered into the main hall.

 

Officer Mochizuki was soaked to the bone, but Ib and Garry couldn’t remember when it started raining. Suga found him a towel to dry off with but that did little to help the somewhat depressed look that had come over Mochizuki’s face. Ib looked at Garry and Suga, both of them also noticed what state he was in.

“The rain looks like it’ll continue all night. That will no doubt, be dangerous… But that’s what happens when you leave this place. Suga, I’m sorry, but could I borrow the key to the premises? I’d like to conduct an investigation.”  
 

 Suga, just handed him the key, no questions asked. Then again, based on previous conversations, Ib guessed that this happened a lot... Only this time Ib couldn't help but think it was different. Mochizuki looked almost broken, as if he knew Sakuma wasn't just playing around this time.

“I apologize. If you’re alright with it, I’d like your cooperation. If anything happens, relay it to me.” He forced a smile and began his investigation upstairs.

Suga, Ib and Garry nodded. Shiori seemed to be thinking heavily about something.

 _“Stay put.”_ Suga wrote mainly to Shiori, he was relatively confident that Garry and Ib would not go wandering off and if for some reason they did, they knew what they were up against and had some type of experience in surviving theses types of situations. Shiori was also in danger of remembering while as long as Ib and Garry kept their wits about them, they would be fine.

“…No, I’m going to search! I’m worried!” Shiori cried, desperately at Suga.

“Shiori if something has happened to Sakuma, going after her could mean risking your own life. Mochizuki and Suga, know the mountains here and have weapons. Let them take the lead, if they need our help they’ll ask for it. Besides, what good would it do to get lost in the forest and need rescuing as well.” Garry reasoned with her, but he disagreed with what he was saying… to some extent. If it were Ib he’d be out there looking for her and while he liked Sakuma he knew the risks of getting Ib and him involved. Suga knew what to do and while he wasn’t sure if the gun Officer Mochizuke had would work on a monster or whatever the Kotori Obake happened to be it was certainly a start.

“…But, I couldn’t possibly do something like that.” Shiori said sadly looking at the ground.

 _“Don’t go into the forest.”_ Suga caved,

“I think I can do that.” Shiori cheered up, looking back at Ib and Garry almost for support.

 _“A protective charm.”_ Suga handed her a necklace, the stones on it were the same as the ones on the bracelets he gave Garry and Ib. Shiori thanked Suga for the charm and then went after Officer Mochizuki, leaving Garry, Ib and Suga downstairs.

“We’ll look after her. Go find Sakuma before whatever is in that forest does. We all know she’s not here.” Garry tried to reassure him.

“It’ll be okay.” Ib said softly and finally Suga nodded and left to go outside. He really hoped Shiori listened to his warning and that Garry and Ib were able to keep her indoors... Knowing Shiori though, it was a fool's dream.


	13. Blackouts and Possesion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, for taking so long to update but life has been keeping me busy. Now real quick when the Kotori Obake's disembodied voice is speaking directly to Shiori, only she can hear it. I don't know if that was in the game but I think it was, where Shiori would react but no one else would. Ib and Garry can hear if someone is in front of them and speaking but not when it is a disembodied voice.

           “Now what should we do?” Garry asked Ib, who merely shrugged lightly, “I suppose we could just make sure everything is ready for when Suga brings her back, towels, blankets those things.”

            “Okay...” Ib agreed quietly, with Garry's thinking. 

            “Do we have any idea what room those are in?” Ib shook her head and Garry sighed, “Okay then while everyone is looking for Sakuma we’ll search around for supplies. Let’s go.”

            They hadn’t even made it to the stairs when the storm caused a blackout. Garry pulled his lighter out, shaking slightly, Ib holding on to his coat they made their way upstairs towards where they had last heard Shiori.

            “What?” Garry looked like he was about to be sick, the hallway was covered in what looked like blood.

            “It…” Ib started, before the smell hit her. Covering her nose and mouth, she looked to Garry, slightly distressed. She was unused to the smell of blood, it startled her how strong it really was.

            “It wasn’t there a second ago.” Garry agreed, turning to look at Shiori at the other end of the hall.

            “What is going on?” Shiori looked absolutely terrified.

            “I don’t know.” Garry responded equally as lost, but Ib was more worried about why she felt like there was something else here. As if that foreboding feeling was coming to a crescendo. 

            “The… It leads to that room.” Shiori stuttered a bit not wanting to say the word blood.

            “….” Ib clenched Garry’s coat tighter and lightly pulled him back. That room wasn't safe.

            “What is it Ib?” He asked a bit confused.

            “Not right.” There was something making her skin crawl, the same she felt when the paintings came to life and tried to kill her.

            “What do you mean? Sakuma could be that way.” Shiori tried to convince Ib but she wasn’t moving. Everything in her head screamed at her to avoid that room.

            “No… Something else. Like Mary but darker, much darker.” She muttered, not taking her eyes off the bloodstained doorway.

            “It’s okay if you're scared, I’m scared too. Even Garry’s scared, but we need to find Sakuma.” Shiori was smiling despite the situation, trying to reassure Ib who didn’t need any reassurance.

            “I’m not scared... Garry’s always scared. Something’s not right...” Ib took a deep breath and focused on the facts what they knew, it didn't make sense for the Kotori Obake to be in the museum. According to Suga she lived in the forest and couldn't exit it. What has changed, Ib thought to herself.

            “Ib, I know, but there is something that way. Officer Mochizuki was also just here. Something could have happened to him in the black out. Whatever happens, I’ll protect you and we’ll get out of here, just like the gallery.” Garry knew it wasn’t Mochizuki behind that door, he agreed with Ib but no matter what they said Shiori would try and enter the room. They had promised Suga they’d look after her too, so in the end they’d follow her.

            “…” Ib just looked at Garry and after a moment she nodded, understanding that this was to make sure Shiori didn't get hurt. She didn't like it but she knew they couldn't let Shiori face whatever it was alone either.

            “Let’s go. Be careful though.” Garry held the lighter out in front of him like a weapon, Ib and Shiori behind him as they entered the room. The blood led to a picture of the first Ogami-san.

            Shiori panicked a bit, seemingly at nothing, then blood patterns started to change and cover the picture completely. Ib and Garry were ready to light the place on fire just to make sure nothing crawled out of those paintings.

            “How!” Shiori panicked, and looked around confusing Ib and Garry.

            “Shiori, you need to breathe.” Garry tried to calm her before she launched into a panic attack but she didn’t seem to hear him.

            “SAKUMA!” She yelled and took off.

            “Shiori!” Garry called after her, and after quickly taking Ib’s hand into his own so they wouldn’t get separated then ran after her. They followed her down the stairs and into the room off to the side with the cobblestone floor and night glow stone. Ib noticed there was blood in front of this door as well, but didn’t have time to think of what that meant as they had caught up to Shiori but it wasn’t her that was speaking.

            “Won’t open.” A cold, unnatural voice spoke, “Uchigawa. It’s all his fault.”

            Shiori moved closer to the source of the voice and the strange scratching noises. The figure looked like Sakuma but something wasn’t quite right about it. Ib glared at the figure, trying to understand why it took on the appearance of Sakuma. She was missing something...

            “Sakuma… Everyone’s looking for you. Why don’t we go back?” Shiori tried

            “Not Sakuma… Something else.” Ib warned grabbing Shiori’s arm before she could get too close. The figure similar to Sakuma glared at Shiori before rushing out of the room.

            “W-Wait!” Shiori called after her.

            “No.” Ib tightened her grip on Shiori’s arm. Shiori would have a bruise there later, but nonetheless it stopped her from running off without thinking.

            “But! She’s in danger!”

            “Let Suga and Mochizuki handle it. Whatever or whoever that was, wasn’t Sakuma…” Garry fell silent for a moment, thinking back on what he knew about the forest and the village. “It couldn’t be…”

            “Hm?” Ib tilted her head.

            “We need to find that book first, I think I know what’s going on here.”

            “No! We have to find Sakuma!”

            “Shiori… That legend surrounding this town, a monster lives in the forest, but what if it isn’t a monster.” Garry tried to reason with her but she wasn’t hearing him. Ib continued thinking about Sakuma's look alike. Something had definitely been wrong about that figure. Yet it was almost identical to Sakuma in appearance and that puzzled Ib.

            “What? It’s just a legend!” Shiori said, not wanting to waste time debating legends when Sakuma was missing.

            “I think parts of it are true, just like with most legends, things get lost and changed along the way. I don't believe the Kotori Obake to be a monster, I think she's just a ghost.” And like that everything clicked in Ib's mind.

            “Possession.” Ib concluded, perhaps they had been right and the Kotori Obake wasn't what everyone thought her to be.

            “Exactly. It explains how Sakuma just behaved and what just happened in general."

            “So what if it’s a ghost! We still need to find Sakuma. She’s out there alone!” Shiori pulled her arm away from Ib but they still blocked her path.

            “Suga is out there looking for her.” Garry reminded her again, but he knew he wasn’t going to win this argument. 

            “I don’t care.” Shiori replied harshly.

            “Wait, just a minute. Think things through.” Ib responded firmly causing Shiori to pause.

            “Alright, working under my assumption that there’s a ghost in the forest we still have no idea what to do and my lighter won’t work in the rain. So we need flashlights, and something for the rain at the very least.” Garry explained, dreading the fact that they were going into the forest, but Shiori would go regardless and they had promised Suga that they would look after her. He also didn’t want to charge into the forest unprepared the gallery was bad enough, this time they had a chance to prepare themselves.

            “Alright… Then we go and look for Sakuma.” Shiori confirmed, they nodded and left the room.

 


	14. Into The Forest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait once again, I have a few chapters saved up so I'm going to edit and post probably them tonight. Also last minute I changed from calling the ghost children, it to them. So there might be an it or two that I missed when I changed the others.

The lights turned back on after they left the room. Ib and Garry took one side of the mansion while Shiori took the other side. They grabbed anything and everything that looked marginally useful. After thirty minutes they gathered in the main hall.

            “Okay, we have; umbrellas, knives, batteries, one old flashlight, several blankets, and towels and… Salt?” Garry paused, looking at Ib questioningly.

            Ib shrugged, she had thought it might be useful. A lot of ghost stories said salt purified ghosts, she figured it couldn't hurt to try it. After a moment Garry just nodded, accepting Ib's idea.

            “I have the keys, some plastic rain covers, a backpack and another lantern.” Shiori presented everything she had found.

            “Alright so we’ll need the flashlight, batteries, backpack, salt and rain covers, agreed?”

            “Knife?” Ib recommended, a real knife would have been useful back at the gallery, they would have never been separated if the palette knife had been a kitchen knife.

            “Okay, we’ll bring a knife as well.” Garry agreed, he was reluctant to carry a knife but he knew Ib was right. He began putting everything in the bag, trying to pack it so it would be easy to grab whatever they needed.

            “Are we ready to go then?” Shiori asked, anxious to get going and look for Sakuma.

            “Let me finish packing everything we need into the bag, then we’ll get going.” Garry told her as he continued to put everything they needed in the bag carefully. Ib handed Shiori a cover before putting her own on. Garry put the backpack on then his plastic cover so that the bag would stay dry as well.

            Leaving the museum, Ib and Garry were both on edge, but prepared to fight or run, whichever was warranted. Shiori took the lead and went around the museum to the forest’s entrance. She was headstrong that much was certain. Ib just wondered how long it would last.

            “Entry to the Forest is forbidden.” Ib read the sign, reminding Shiori once more that this was a horrible idea.

            “Come on Sakuma has to be around here somewhere.” Shiori said, moving past the sign to a large blue stone that was glowing faintly.

            “It’s the same as the charms Suga gave us.” Garry commented idly wondering if this was the stone the first Ogami-san used to protect the village from the Kotori Obake. It was too heavy to have been thrown, but that could have easily been an exaggeration.

            “Yeah…” Shiori paused for a minute before continuing deeper into the forest; they came across three headstones when a crackling noise came from behind them.

            “Found you.” A cold childish voice said, all of them turned around to find a figure the same size as a child. They didn’t look like a person, they had no features, but they seemed entirely focused on Shiori.

            “The promise.” The figure approached them twitching almost as if their form wasn't entirely stable or corporeal.

            “RUN!” Garry screamed, pulling Shiori and Ib along with him, a blinding light flashed in front of their eyes. It wasn't lightning, but it was just as bright.

            “W-what?” Shiori yelled

            “AHH!” Garry screamed, clutching onto Ib out of fear of losing her.

            When the light finally faded and they found themselves in a completely different place.

            “Please not this again!” Garry groaned putting his head in his hands as Ib moved closer to him taking in her new surroundings. Observing and taking note of everything before looking back to Garry.

            “Eh? This is… What was that thing just now?” Shiori asked, looking around as she stood up.

            “Come… Come…” The forest seemed to whisper to them ominously.

            “We need to get moving.” Shiori said, looking back at Ib and Garry, Ib had pulled herself up and was working on getting Garry on his feet as well. He was still panicking, but his breathing had steadied out and he seemed less out of it.

            “The building?” Ib asked, it wasn’t like they could back with those beings chasing them. It would also get them out of the rain which meant they could take a moment to dry off as they worked on what just happened.

            “It seems to be the only way we can go.” Shiori moved looking around carefully.

            “Sickle.” Ib pointed off to the side of the clearing they were in.

            “I’ll carry it,” Shiori said, it was heavily rusted but it still seemed sharp enough to be useable. Garry was on his feet and notably calmer when she turned back around. Nodding to them, they headed for the building, opening the door carefully.

The three of them stepped into the room. There was blood, covering sections of the walls and floor with a shattered stone sat on a pedestal in the center of the room. The building was old and the walls were cracked, showing their age.  A note was posted on the back wall near the largest crack.

           “Children must not touch. Because the number of stones are limited.” Ib read confused by the meaning, do they mean actual children or are they referring to the childesque being that chased them here.

           “Children?” Shiori said, gripping the sickle a little tighter.

           “There’s air coming from this crack.” Garry told them, “I can probably break it open.”

           “Here use the sickle.” Shiori handed it to him and told them to stay back. After a few seconds the cracked sections of the wall crumbled away, revealing the entrance to a cave.

            They stood around the entrance for a moment not quite ready to go in. It smelled foul, like rotting flesh and blood. All three of them were dry heaving on the ground doing their best to keep their stomachs from emptying themselves.  It took time, but they were able to fight back their gag reflexes, before venturing into the cave in the hope that it would have better ventilation.

            Garry and Ib decided silently together that this was far worse than the gallery. It wasn't that they gallery wasn't terrifying in its own right, but more that there everything was fake to a degree, made from plaster and paint and given life. Still nothing was gruesome. Not like this... Where dark, half dried blood painted the walls and filled the air with decay.

 

While the gallery was terrifying at least all the blood had really just been red paint.

            “We have to go forward, we don’t have a choice.” Shiori finally said pulling Ib and Garry from their morbid thoughts.


	15. So It Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have edited and re-edited this chapter so many times because my computer kept updated itself without my approval and shutting everything down. SO if this is awkward or not as good as the others that's why. I'm tired of making the same changes over and over again, only to have them undone my computer. I swear this chapter is cursed. I may come back and re-edit it later when I'm less worked up, but for now it's staying unedited.

There was an ominous sound coming from further in the cave but none of them wanted to go there just yet. There was blood everywhere, another reason not to go further in before they knew what was going on. Surprisingly, the ventilation was rather good which meant they weren’t gagging every few minutes.

            “Knife?” Ib asked calmly looking at Garry, who looked a bit pale. He reached into the bag and pulled the knife out incase. He put it in his pocket so he could grab it quickly, but had both hands free.

            “Should we start with that room?” Shiori asked, pointing to the closest room.

            “Might as well.” Garry pushed back his fear.

            The room was very basic with two beds to book selves a small table and two chairs. There wasn’t much to look through either.

            “I found a key. It says prison cell 1 on it.” Shiori called from the other side of the room.

            “We’re in a prison? What is a prison doing in the middle of the forest?”

            “I hate this place.” Another one of the child-like figures appeared. Garry and Ib slowly moved away from the figure and towards Shiori.

            “Be gone, go die.” The figure began moving slowly towards them. They weren’t taking any chances and bolted from the room. The figure didn’t follow them so they caught their breath in the main section of the cave.

            “I’m starting to think you were right about the ghosts.” Shiori said still catching her breath.

            “Starting to wish I was wrong.” Garry’s voice was strained.

            “Seriously though, what is this place?”

            “A prison.” Ib whispered.

            “I wonder for who…” Garry didn’t like how things were going, this was not good for his sanity or Ib’s but it was a little too late to turn back now. They just had to figure out what it would take to get away from this ghost. Garry thought back to his conversation with Suga.

            “Kotori Obake?” Ib suggested

            “I wonder why though… Still, I have an idea.”

            “What? Will it help us find Sakuma and get out of here?”

            “No, but it could help in general. What if when the Kotori Obake was banished to the forest, she wasn’t banished but imprisoned. Then the children she is obsessed with are because they killed her child. Perhaps a twisted version of an eye for an eye.”

            “It doesn’t make sense. Why was she imprisoned?” Ib responded, the whole legend was crumbling apart.

            “The legend said that she bewitched men. What if she seduced them?” Shiori offered

            “This whole legend doesn’t make sense.”

            “How could one woman affect a whole town?” Ib wondered out loud.

            “How is any of that going to help us?” Shiori asked, worried that they were losing time that they could be using to search for Sakuma.

            “Slow down, think about it.” Ib replied gently calming Shiori down a bit.

            “Let’s start with what we know.” Garry proposed, Ib was right after all panicking and running around an apparently haunted prison wasn’t going to help anyone. They needed to use their heads before proceeding if all the other rooms turned out to be like the first.

            “The Kotori Obake targets children.” Shiori started.

            “She was banished or imprisoned in the forest.” Ib added

            “And the legend is missing a large portion of the story.”

            “Where does that leave us, though?” Shiori asked, wondering about the childeqsue figures.

            “Moving forward carefully?” Ib suggested.

            “We need to avoid those figures as much as possible. Assuming it is a ghost we’re dealing with, they would most likely be the missing children.” Garry speculated.

            “Okay, then so we get out of here avoid the ghost children and find Sakuma!” Shiori yelled with more confidence than she thought possible given the situation.

            Ib responded with a nod and they all turned to look deeper into the cave. Collectively the moved forward, determined to figure things out and find Sakuma.

            Deeper in the cave there was another figure playing in a puddle of blood. They were different from the other ones though, Ib noticed they didn’t feel as dark either. Ib broke away from the group briefly approaching the figure.

            “All syrupy, my body, all syrupy. Give it back, give it back.” They told Ib as she approached them. They made no move to chase her as she stood relatively close to them. Sadly Ib looked at the blood on the floor and nodded.

            “This place…”

            “Ib come on.” Garry moved to stand next to her, his hand on the knife just in case.

            “This place was no ordinary prison.” She remarked before walking away from the figure and toward Shiori, who was standing near the entrance to another room.

            This one was absolutely covered in blood and smelled of rotting flesh. It still affected them, but as disturbing as it was they became accustomed to the scent rather quickly.

There were large pots lining the walls and full of a mysterious liquid. The tables in the center and the rusted machetes near the sink left no doubt in their minds about what this room had been used for.

Still the three split up looking around the room. Shiori found a small nose; that seemed to be crafted for a doll made of cloth.

            “A bone?” Ib questioned from her spot near the sink.

            “A small person’s bone?” Shiori wondered as they gathered around the sink.

            “Hmm…” Garry looked grim as they got more clues to this puzzle.

            “It hurts, it hurts.” Another one of the figures appeared on the other side of the room. It walked slowly getting closer, “Come here, come here.”

            The three of them ran out to the main part of the cave again. After a few seconds they moved to go deeper into the cave where they all believed the cells to be.


	16. The Pain of The Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly longer chapter, graphic and I've edited the tags to indicate that. I swear I figured out how to indentions in new paragraphs and whatnot, but it's not working now so sorry about that. This isn't as edited and perfected as I would have liked, but I'm rolling with it.

 

There were three cells to choose from. With prison key one in hand they moved the first cell, the one on the far right. Shiori unlocked the door, but allowed Garry to enter first with Ib behind him holding onto his jacket.

Surprisingly, the cell was the cleanest room they had been in so far the absence of blood was appreciated by all three of them. However the bones in the corner were off putting to say the least.

“Do you see something in that hole over there?” Garry asked, trying to get a better look at it without stepping on or over the skeleton near the hole.

“Yeah, it looks like another key.”

Ib just moved around the bones easily, being the smallest person in their party she was able to move respectfully around the bones. She reached into the hole and pulled out a small wooden key.

“It looks like a key to a chest or something small.” Garry examined the key, that Ib handed to him.

“A chest? There isn’t one in here.”

“There’s something else in there…” Ib told them wary of sticking her entire arm into the hole.

“Hm… We don’t have anything that would help reach it do we?”

“No.” Shiori confirmed, sighing, “We’ll have to come back to this room. Let’s go look at the other cells.”

Shiori lead the way to the next door, which had a color-coded combination lock on it. The final door had a trail of blood leading to or from it and was heavily rusted. Parts of the door were falling apart, but not enough for the door to be breakable.

“What now?” Ib asked softly from Garry’s side.

“We need something to break this down. There’s something in here.” Shiori didn’t know what was in there or why she felt that they needed to get into that room. All she knew was that they had to get the door open.

“….” Ib had a bad feeling about the rusted over door, for multiple reasons. While, the place was trashed and blood was everywhere in the cave… None of the other doors were rusted it made her uneasy and mildly curious as to why this door was special. What did this jail really house? She shifted uneasily, but remained impassive.

“What is it Ib?” She just shook her head. Suddenly Shiori turned away from the door.

“There was a wooden box in the second room we entered!” She ran to go back to that room.

“Wait! Shiori! The ghost children!” Garry yelled, running after her, Ib ran as well, she didn’t really have a choice since Garry had grabbed her wrist. At least this way, they hopefully wouldn’t get separated.

“We need what’s in that box!”

“Probably, but we need to think before we go barging in.” Garry explained through his labored breathing. Shiori crossed her arms mildly frustrated with all this stopping and talking they had been doing. She wanted to get out of this place and find Sakuma but they kept stopping and wasting time.

“Okay, but we need to be quick.”

“Yes.” Ib agreed, suddenly, “Find out where the ghost is and then the box.”

“Like a map! Find out where both are so you can get in and out without a problem. They seemed to almost reset after we walk out of the room.” Garry encourages and Shiori had to concede that it was a good idea. She put her hand on the doorknob and took a deep breath. Quickly she ran a few steps looking around before running back out. She slammed the door and leaned against the door for a second

“I can do this.” After gaining a bit more confidence she ran back into the room with the key in hand and opened the box ignoring the approaching figure. They were speaking to her, but she pushed that to the back of her mind and focused on getting the item out of the box before dodging the figure and running around the room before reaching the door again. This time she slumped against the door, half in relief and half because of the small surge of adrenaline she just had was leaving her.

“A metal file?” Garry asked confused.

“The box said something about confiscated items. I’m guessing someone used it to try and break out.”

“The rusted door.” Ib declared and everyone nodded in agreement. Hesitantly they all moved back to the door, Shiori handed Garry the file and he began to file the locking mechanism of the door open. The metal was extremely brittle, so it fell apart easily, but the loud clang it made when it finally unlocked was ominous and deafening. All three of them felt their hearts stop.

“Let’s go.” Shiori said much more confidently than she felt. Garry was shaking, holding the now broken file and Ib looked determined despite her uneasiness about the room. Pushing the door open all three of them nearly gagged at the haunting room.

“I ga-ve birth. I gave bi-rth.” Echoed around them, blood was on the floor in various places and none of them knew what to do or what to think. The voice continued.

“In thi-s oozing pl-ace. I gave bi-rth.”

The childlike figures in the room were all squirming around the bed in the middle of the room.

“In the m-iddl-e of sh-rieks a-nd gro-ans.”

“I cop-ulat-ed an-d gave bi-rth.”

“’no’ ‘n-o’ moth-er’s v-oice.”

“FEELS DISGUSTING. FEELS GOOD. FEELS GOOD.”

“I’ll kil-l yo-u. I’l-l kill you.”

“Ah… stop… again. Don’t come… no.”

“I’ll d-ie. Do-n’t k-ill m-e.”

“M-OTH-ER m-oTH-ER. MOTHER MOTHER MOTHER MOTHERMOTHER.”

The voice then started from the beginning again. This time they didn’t split up. Carefully avoiding the figures in the center they made their way around the room. They easily found a crafted mouth, to go with the crafted nose that they found.

Uneasily, they made their way further into the room where there was a shelf in the back corner. It had various jars on the self and most of them were empty, but one of them had this dark almost black looking syrupy liquid in it. Shiori picked it up, taking a closer look.

“There’s a bone in here.” She whispered looking around.

“This seems to be a reoccurring theme.” Garry replied, pulling Ib closer to him.

“Other side?” Ib asked, looking at across the room, seeing various papers on a desk across the room.

“Yeah, this way.” Garry ushered Ib around the room, Shiori following behind them.

On the desk were papers with various tally marks, there were over twenty marks.

“Garry…” All the pieces fell into place.

“Let’s get out of here.” Shiori said, swallowing the feeling of dread and sorrow. Quickly they left the horrific room and moved back to the main section of the cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure when I'll have the next chapter out, but it will contain Ib speaking for paragraphs, it's a lot and probably the only time she will talk this much. She's going to explain how she interrupted what they just witnessed while being pretty unphased by it all, well she's a little phased.


End file.
